Turkish Fonts: Dotted I, Dotless I and Language-Aware Text

Unicode’s case-mapping FAQ explains that Turkish distinguishes dotted and dotless I: lowercase i pairs with uppercase İ, while dotless ı pairs with uppercase I. A font for Turkish needs the actual characters, not an English-only specimen with similar shapes. Keep these distinctions in the source wording before evaluating the appearance; changing the typeface cannot repair a word containing the wrong letter.

Build a short preview from the real headings, names and paragraph text. Include both cases of the letters and any punctuation or accents the project requires. Inspect the dot above İ at the smallest intended size, checking that line spacing and cropping leave it visible. Compare the full word rather than judging an isolated capital, and have the wording reviewed by someone who reads Turkish.

Unicode notes that case mappings can depend on language or locale. If a design automatically capitalizes headings or converts imported text, test its Turkish behavior separately from font selection. Keep an unmodified copy of the original wording and compare the resulting characters after the transformation. A visually convincing uppercase line can still contain an incorrect letter if the conversion used the wrong language assumptions.

Choose a documented family and check the exact release’s character coverage before committing to the project. The Roboto profile offers a named resource to investigate rather than a special Turkish-style claim. Review the exported document for substituted glyphs and lost marks. The Latin guide covers the broader script family, while the Unicode text guide explains why correct underlying characters and the chosen rendering are separate responsibilities.